"Bang!"
Just past noon, having strolled back from the vicinity of the casino, Senju Hashirama hurried over and kicked open the door to Senju Tobirama's bedroom.
"Tobirama! Tobirama! Let's go find the Holy Grail!" Hashirama leaned both hands on Tobirama's desk, his tone filled with indescribable excitement.
The Holy Grail! This thing could actually grant any wish! Peace in the Shinobi World, Lord Izuna, and the relationship between Tobirama and Uchiha Madara—all these things that could only be achieved in dreams would no longer be mere fantasies!
"You are not going. Tomorrow, I'm sending five Jonin-led teams to search for the Holy Grail, and you are staying right here in Konoha." Tobirama calmly continued processing official documents, not even sparing his older brother's resentful little glare a single look.
Although he didn't believe a single word about any Holy Grail or wish-granting, as a high-ranking official of the village and the second-in-command of the Senju clan, he couldn't just let his own impulses run wild. With something so far beyond the norm, it was always better to be safe than sorry; Tobirama felt that being prudent was sometimes for the best.
"Eh~?"
"Shut up, Anija!"
"Oh..." Scolded by his younger brother, Hashirama instantly transformed into a grey-and-white humanoid object, could only lower his head aggrievedly, not daring to look at his fierce younger brother.
Tobirama curled his lip. If it weren't for Uchiha Madara, he'd be quite happy to let his older brother out for a stroll just to keep him from sending money to the casino every day. But with Uchiha Madara still staying in Konoha, he didn't dare let his older brother leave—otherwise, who knew what this inherently evil Uchiha Madara might do?
At this thought, Tobirama helplessly looked at his older brother, who was practically starting to grow mushrooms on his back. *If the Senju clan didn't have me, we'd be doomed sooner or later.*
"Ah! That's right!" Recovering instantly, Hashirama jumped up, his glowing eyes fixed intently on Tobirama.
"Tobirama, let's take some students together with Madara!"
"???"
"What are you up to now?" Tobirama looked suspiciously at this blockhead of an older brother, who was practically radiating absurdity. Previously, when asked to take two clan youths and a civilian child as disciples, he hadn't been willing; why was he suddenly bringing it up himself?
"Spit it out, what's going on?" Tobirama's sharp gaze landed on Hashirama, a look that made the God of Shinobi extremely flustered.
"Er... well... it went like this..." Hashirama briefly recounted his chance encounter with a certain little girl, and how he wanted to take her as a student simply because she was a civilian four or five years old with the chakra reserves of an Elite Genin.
The God of Shinobi would never admit that he just felt an inexplicable affinity for that blonde little girl, as if... as if she were a natural-born gambler just like him!
Yet she clearly wasn't giving off the aura of a kindred spirit, and yet she could still give him this illusion—why was that?
Hashirama felt it was rather strange, but he had no intention of dwelling on it. If she caught his eye, he'd take her in—that was the Shinobi Way of Senju Hashirama!
Mm... After taking her in, he'd have to ask if the child was interested in casinos.
Tobirama gave him a skeptical glance, but ultimately nodded lightly and decided not to probe further. It was a good thing for his older brother to want disciples; ideally, he'd take three at once. As for himself and Madara—well, taking three disciples of his own was fine, and as for Madara... considering that his older brother had taken the initiative to propose taking apprentices this time, he'd let his brother have his way just once.
"All right! Hahahaha, Tobirama, you're the best!" Seeing Tobirama nod, Hashirama's eyes lit up with excitement, and in the next instant, he bolted straight for the Uchiha clan grounds.
"Madara!!!"
…………
Meanwhile, deep within the Uchiha clan grounds.
Still the same location, still the same topic.
Uchiha Madara sat in the master seat, looking down at the high-ranking members below, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest.
"You said... the Holy Grail?"
"Yes, Lord Madara. Recently, the Five Great Nations and even the entire Shinobi World are spreading the word. Whoever obtains the Holy Grail can make a wish upon it, and any wish at all will be granted." A high-ranking official pitched the idea to Madara with a fanatical expression, looking remarkably like a pyramid scheme boss.
At these words, the higher-ups broke into a heated discussion. Some were overjoyed, while others were worried. Those who were overjoyed were happy that Lord Izuna's resurrection seemed promising, while those who were worried wanted the Uchiha to use this opportunity to achieve what their ancestors could never accomplish in this generation.
But Madara clearly wasn't going to make those wishes they hoped for; anyone could tell that right now, Madara's eyes probably held only Izuna, and perhaps that Senju clan head as well.
"Great Elder, apart from the women, children, and elderly, as well as ninjas assigned to village construction tasks, mobilize everyone else. Bring the Holy Grail back to me." Madara clenched his fists tightly, his crimson Sharingan involuntarily activating due to his excitement.
"No, I'm going with you! The rest of the elders stay behind."
The Great Elder jerked his head up, wanting to say something, but was stopped by a wave of Madara's hand. Silenced by Madara, the Great Elder could only lower his head in resentful compliance.
"Bang!"
"Madara!"
The door was kicked open. The higher-ups instinctively flared their Sharingan in anger, pairs of three-tomoe eyes glaring fiercely at the entrance, only to instantly choke back their Sharingan the next moment.
The culprit who kicked open the door was none other than the head of the Senju clan, one of the current founders of the village, the man bearing the name of the God of Shinobi—Senju Hashirama.
"Madara! Come with me to take a few disciples! Once we take our disciples, we'll go look for the Holy Grail together!" Hashirama bounded up to Madara, looking every bit like an oversized, tail-wagging dog.
Hearing the mention of taking disciples, Madara's Sharingan flickered a few times before he finally closed his eyes when Hashirama finished speaking, forcing out a single, stiff word: "Hmph."
"Hahaha, Madara, you really are the best, hahahaha."
…………
A few days later, under a blazing sun.
On this day, Lily was going about her usual System quests, though today was slightly different. After another attribute broke past the D-rank threshold, she now received three D-rank quests every week. The rewards were much greater than E-rank quests, but the difficulty remained about the same, just like this current task:
"D-rank Quest: Guard the Village
Description: Stand guard at the gate with the old gatekeeper for one hour to prevent foreign ninjas from sneaking into the village.
Rewards: 30 Free Attribute Points, 500 Mall Coins"
Not only was the quest simple and rewarding, but she could also learn a lot from the old gatekeeper.
For instance, the hidden villages of the Five Great Nations had all dispatched ninjas to search for the Holy Grail, but none had sent many—at most, a few teams led by Jonin. Only the Uchiha clan was mobilizing nearly their entire force.
This led Lily to sigh that the reckless hotheads and arrogant overpowered protagonists in novels didn't actually exist; everyone was being utterly prudent. They were afraid others would believe the Holy Grail was real and snatch the harvest out from under them, yet equally afraid others wouldn't believe it, leading them to leave the village entirely undefended and get their homes raided.
There was also the Sarutobi young clan head, who had a crush on the young miss of the Mitokado clan and went to her clan grounds to confess his feelings, only to get beaten up and delivered back to the Sarutobi clan tied up like a parcel. Word was he got a second beating from the Sarutobi clan head that very night.
Furthermore, the Senju clan head, the Uchiha clan head, and the Senju clan head's younger brother, Senju Tobirama, all intended to take three disciples each. Any newcomer in the village under the age of ten could participate, and a unified assessment would be held in the village square in three days' time.
It was said that the future Ninja Academy would be built right there.
Wait... wait?
Who was taking disciples?!
Seeing her stand there in silence for so long, the gatekeeper assumed she was tempted and wanted to participate in the assessment, but was holding back because of her self-doubt and humble civilian background.
So he patted Lily's head consolingly and said, "It's fine, Lily. Everyone knows your strength, and Lord Hashirama said civilians can participate too. Don't be afraid."
In truth, he brought this up precisely because he wanted Lily to take part. Not only was this little girl exceptionally gifted, but she also had a heart of gold. Many people in the village knew and adored this sensible, grateful little girl. If she could receive guidance from Lord Hashirama and the others, she would surely become a pillar of the village's future.
"...Mm! Thank you, Uncle Akai." Although she wasn't sure why Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had suddenly decided to take disciples, this was undoubtedly a golden opportunity to hug some massive coattails!
The coattails of the Twin Heroes of the Shinobi World—I, Lily, am definitely going to grab them!